615-322-GOLD (4653) or Purchase Tickets | Season Ticket Waiting List
Our ticketing and marketing personnel have compiled a list of the ticketing questions they are most frequently asked along with brief answers. They are listed by the categories of National Commodore Club, Ticket Pricing and Vanderbilt Employee. We hope you will find this helpful.
NCC Related
Why implement a new seating and pricing plan for the 2013 season?
- Stadium Improvement - Major improvements - from the video board to the new artificial turf - have been made to Vanderbilt Stadium in the past year. More improvements to the stadium, including those to enhance the fan experience, are on the horizon. We need additional revenue to support such initiatives
- Coaching Staff - Vanderbilt is committed to a successful football program. The university is supportive. We have shown this by retaining what we believe to be the best football coaching staff in the country led by Head Coach James Franklin. To do that requires us to grow our revenue streams for the athletic department.
- Student-Athlete Scholarships - In 2013-2014, Vanderbilt Athletics will provide over $12 million for scholarships support of our 325 student-athletes. This money is partly generated through the generous donations of our National Commodore Club members. With the rising cost of a student-athlete scholarship and the need to generate more revenue, the decision was made to increase current NCC sections and add new NCC sections to Vanderbilt Stadium for the 2013 football season.
- The university annually contributes an investment of $15 million toward the athletics budget, which has been vital to overall department operations over the years. No major college athletic program is fully funded by its university. Regarding the "urban legend" of the endowment funding the program, this simply can't happen. The vast majority of the money donated and residuals generated from the Vanderbilt endowment is earmarked for specific uses outside of athletic funding and cannot be changed per the original donor's intent.
- The NCC sections have been sold out for two consecutive seasons, so more room is needed to allow for the growth of the NCC. A comprehensive analysis was done that looked at Vanderbilt Stadium pricing and cost per seat history, industry norms, and SEC and peer schools comparative data. It was determined that, at this time, it was best to both add new sections requiring an NCC donation as well as ask current giving levels for seats to go up.
- We have not gone up in giving levels for football seats in over 10 years.
- Your donation per seat will directly impact the lives of our student-athletes by applying to scholarship support. We hope that this effort to closely tie seating to NCC support will raise awareness for the need toward scholarship support because every gift does make a difference. Also by becoming a NCC member there are additional benefits for donors including an annual tax deduction, parking, and post season ticket opportunities. Will my donation for football apply to basketball and other benefits?
- Yes, your donation for football will apply all for all 2013-2014 Vanderbilt sports including men's basketball. Additionally your donation at required levels can make you eligible to receive parking passes for various sports (as long as you have season tickets for that sport). Finally, all NCC members get the first opportunities for postseason tickets (bowl games, SEC tournaments, NCAA tournaments).
- Every NCC member at $100 or higher receives benefits such as a tax deduction for a portion of your donation, opportunities for post season tickets, Commodore Nation monthly magazine, and invitation to NCC events. This year with a donation of $200 you will receive a parking pass for football if you have season tickets. Additionally donations to the NCC apply across all Vanderbilt sports including 2013-14 men's basketball. This may help to improve your current season tickets in other sports, give you additional parking benefits and all postseason tickets are first made available to NCC members. For a complete list of NCC benefits for each giving level please go to NationalCommodoreClub.com.
- All donations related to 2013 football season tickets are due at the football ticket deadline of March 22, 2013. For your convenience starting this year only one payment is necessary for your tickets and NCC donation. You can make a larger NCC donation by contacting the NCC office by phone by calling (615) 322-4112, emailing them at ncc@vanderbilt.edu or by making the donation online at NationalCommodoreClub.com. Credit card and bank draft payment plans are available, but your required donation must be paid in full before the start of the season (September) or you will not receive your tickets. If you have not notified the NCC office and set up your payment option by March 22, 2013 your tickets will be released.
- If you aren't interested in paying the NCC contribution, but would still like season football seats we can charge you for season football seats outside of NCC sections at this time. We will need to go through the entire renewal process for all seats which ends on March 22, 2013. We will fill all seat requests by first taking care of NCC members, then previous year season ticket holders, then new orders.
Why did you increase the price of tickets so much for next season?
- Excitement is high for the 2013 football season - the team finished the year ranked in the top 25 and has signed the top recruiting class in history. Following 9 wins and winning the Music City Bowl, the Commodores will also host 7 home games this season (up from 6 last year). During the 2012 season, we sold out 3 of 6 home games creating new demand for football tickets. Head Coach James Franklin remains one of the most talked about coaches in college football and has generated new excitement around the Commodore football program.
Why did employee pricing increase so much?
- In the past, many employees have contacted us to voice displeasure over having a taxable benefit be applied to their paycheck. Tickets had become a taxable benefit due to a discount in excess of 20%. So, the decision was made to set the Vanderbilt employee discount at 20% so no taxable benefit would be applied to any employee's paycheck. Vanderbilt employees are still eligible to purchase the best seats in the stadium for the lowest price possible.
- A taxable benefit is anything that is provided to an employee at a discount greater than 20% mandated by the Federal Government.
- There is no way to verify that a person calling in on the phone or emailing in to us is the actual person they claim to be. Therefore we need each employee to come in person with their Vanderbilt ID in order to sign payroll deduction forms in person.
